December 08, 2012: Snowfall
On the body of the demon master is a coin purse. Beyond a large amount of platinum and gems, there is a folded message. It is written in common: "The Guardian is travelling the townships with the Champion as companion. Eradicate all who accompany." The note is signed with the symbol of crushed rubies in the form of a hand. Aria and Mungo recognize the seal as the symbol of the Ruby Hand, a group of arcane assassins. The Mechanus are the Watchers of the Seal. The Seal is what prevents travel between the planes. By the time the party is done cleaning up and looting the Vrock bodies for parts, it is early evening. River invokes the map and reorients herself. The party is on a small river paralleling the road. She finds that there is a small town which should still be reachable, but it will be late. They march forward and arrive in town by nighttime. The town seems mostly deserted, but a few houses have signs of active fireplaces. There are a couple of homes which are multiple stories, including a two story one with a tower. That looks like a public house or inn. As they hit the edge of town, there is a storage yard area which looks stacked super high (40-50' high) with lumber. The party heads into the inn. As they enter, there is an automaton offering to take their coats. There is another one that appears to be dedicated to serving food. Neither one apparently has any capabilities beyond that. River receives her stew. It appears as though the vegetables are fresh, but the meat is quite old. She passes on eating it. Wooddale is apparently the name of the town. Vitrano: Oh yeah, we'll check out this town in the morning. There's gotta be loot here somewhere. In the first room, there appears to be a body in the room. It is dessicated with the effects of time. It looks as though the body was arranged here. The bones of the face have been placed back on to the front of the skull. There is a clear fracture line at the brow ridge. The temples of the skull show fracture marks, as if from great pressure. The body is tucked in underneath the bedsheets. The next room is clean and empty. The third room on the same side is quite a bit colder. The floor is stained and wet. Looking up there is a large hole the roof. Upon closer inspection, it looks like something might have tried to force its way out of the room through the roof. The party examines the rooms on the other side. The next room across the hall is clean and neat. There appear to be a lot of stains and marks in the room. They appear to be the remnants of blades, scorch marks, and blood splatter. The fifth room has an automaton dusting. It appears to be a spider-like creature. The last room (first door on the right as you enter the hallway) has the same level of damage as the room with the broken roof, but it looks more severe. This room appears as though there was less repair possible. This room is the suite--it's a bit larger with an adjoining room. Mungo unlocks the door with little effort. Inside is another body tucked into the bed. The party lines up behind Mungo and the door flies open. Inside, the window shutters are shaking (even though it is not windy outside). Mungo: (Jumps on the nearby table) Vitrano: Why are you afraid? You've faced dragons! (Draws holy symbol and sword and walks into the room) GM: There is a body of a woman on the bed. Old Man: Is it an elven woman? Vitrano: I run out of the room. As Vitrano gets closer, she has an unusual pendant on. She is wearing the holy symbol of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Vitrano does Abjure Undead on the body, forcing a reaction. Round 1: A creature of light and force arises. It swings a fullblade at Vitrano (Reflex 37, 22 dmg, Pushed 5 squares). It continues to howl in a language the party does not understand. Vitrano doesn't think it's undead, but some kind of guardian spirit. The creature reacts with an attack and blasts Vitrano who manages to reflect part of the attack back at it. Kristof tries to identify it, but it doesn't appear to be undead--it appears to be a flavor of Astral Shade. They are immensely powerful beings of the Astral Plane, typicallly associated with the forces of good.